Apparatus for preserving perishable articles.



C. W. WALLER.

APPARATUS FOR PRESBRVING PERISHABLE ARTICLES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.14, 1912.

Patented June 17, 1913 4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Patented June 17, 1913.

0. W. WALLER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 14, 1912.

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J .4 I Hzfarzzg G. W. WALLER. APPARATUS FOR PRESERVING PERISHABLEARTICLES. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 14, 1912.

1,064,796. Patnted June 17, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

IIIIIIIIIIII Jimmy C. W. WALLER.

APPARATUS FOR PRESBRVING PERISHABLE ARTICLES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.14, 1912.

Patented June 17, 1913.

4 SHEBTE-SKBET 4.

fizz/2222272 [7235f 3. 15.2-

" ce tacle) thus cutting UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES W. WALLEB, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOB 0F ONE-FIFTH T0 CLYDEM.

PETEBMAN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. A

APPARATUS FOR PRESERVING PERISI-IABLE narra es...

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, CHARLES W. WALLER, acitizen of'the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cookand State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Apparatus for Preservin Perishable Articles, of which the followingisa'specification. My invention relates to improvements in apparatus forpreserving perishable artlcles, the primary object of the inventionbeing to provide a generally improved apparatus and method forpreserving perishable articles such as foods, vegetables, and the like,the invention being particularly designed and adapted for use inpreserving such perishable articles while in transit.

The methods now \in use in connection with the shipping of perishablearticles of all kinds (especially of foods) in refrigerator cars arevery expensive as it costs approximately-$l6.'00 to ice a'car for a tripof one thousand miles so that the large firms shipping hundreds ofice',cars a day would save a large sum of money daily by the use of myinvention by which meats and other perishable articles can be shippedwithout the use of ice or other kind of refrigeration.

Various forms of bacteria are the cause of' putrefaction or fermentativechanges in meats and other perishable food articles. The atmosphereconsists of a mixture of oxygen andnitrogen in the almost constantproportion of 20.8l volumes of oxygen, to 79.19 volumes of nitrogen, or,byweight 23.01 parts of oxygen to 76.99 parts of nitrogen. The gases areassociated together not as a chemical compound but as amechanicalmixture. Upon the oxygen present depends the power of the atmosphere tosupport combustion and respiration, the nitrogen acting as a dilutant'toprevent its too energetic action. by extracting or drawing from the car"as much of the atmosphere as possible by means of a vacuum pump, andabsorbing as much as possible'of the oxygen in the remaining atmosphereby means 'ofsulfur fumes (which are given oif from burningsulfur) thesaidjoxygen and sulfurous oxid dissolve in the supply of liquid or water(which, in the present intance, I have placed in-the bottom of the offthe oxyis the powerof 'su porting the e. various forms-'ofbacteria andSpecification at Letters Patent. Paten tedJctricl'7,191-3. Applicationfiled March 14,1912: seriaumeaaesa.

thereby preventing putrefaction for fermentative changes in the meats'orother perishable food articles in the car. Furthermore, by producing andmaintaining a substantial vacuum in the car for which I have madeprovision as hereinafter pointed out, (thus keeping out the heatthroughwhich the various forms of bacterial growths are greatly assisted)thesebacterial growths are either prevented or at least substantiallychecked.

In view of the above and with theiabove mentioned and other objects inview, my invention consists in the novel construction, and method ofoperation hereinafter described, illustrated in some of its embodimentsin particularly pointed outinthe appended claims.

Referring to the drawings forming a part ofthis specification, Figure1,is a longithe accompanying drawixigs andtudinal vertical sectionalview of a refrig erator car constructed in accordance with my lnvention.Fig. 2, a top plan yie'w of the same, partly in horizontal section. Fig.3,

a cross sectional view taken through one of the end compartments. Fig.4, a central view of a modified form of same, Fi 5, a cross sectionalview through the centre com-1 partment of the car orgmidwayl ofth endsthereof showing a telescoping'icereceptacle for icing the car forrefrigeration when my improved method is not in use. F .I 6, a centralview of the same with the te iscoping parts of the ice receptacle drawnup. Fig. 7 an enlarged longitudinal vertical sectional view of the upperend portion of one of the compartments showing how the inner or sealingdoor may be secured for rendering the compartment air tight. Fig. 8, asimilar view showing ,7 a. longitudinal horizontal sectional View of the"adjacent 'side wall and door at this portion of the car. Fig. 9, afragmentary end View of one, of the inner or sealing-doors and showingthe manner ofsealingj' or attaching theksanie. Fig. 10, a sectional viewof one of the sulfur (or the like) receptacles or."containers, andigniting devicefin the form ofa ela'tin covering or other solublematerial a apted to form a small wateipocktor receptacle and asmallquantity of. sodium eroxid or the like as an igniting device, ig.',11,asimilar view showing a method of lighting or igniting by means,ofelectricity, ester I example, by means of electrodes adapted to forma spark gap or the like. i Fig. 12, a longitudinal sectional viewShOWHIg a modiform of the central portion of the car in which thesealing doors are located at V the sides of the car, thus giving moreroom and forming but one compartment, Fig. 13,

by means of an eccentric on one of the car axles. Fig; 14, a top planview of the same, showing how the eccentric operating mechanismconnected with th y be thrown into and out of operation from the 1 sideof the car. Fi 15, a'detail view'of the slotted end of t e supportingbar apd hand slide bar and illustrating t e manner of locating thelatter in-its respective positions. Fig. 16, a longitudinal verticalsectional view of a portion of one of the liquid or water containingrece tacles or. tanks in the bottom portion of t ec'ar. Fig. 17, a

cross sectional view of the same'.

imilar numerals of reference designate like parts throughout all thefigures of the drawings.

For the purpose of illustration I have shown'my invention embodying foruse as a car in lieu of the ordinary refrigerator car, and it will, ofcourse, be understood, so that the same may be embodied in various formsor the preservation of perishable articles.

The car body 1, may be of and 4 membe flange members being braced, epresent instance, by means of brace body or receptacle are provided witha supliquid or water in the the lowering of the ends of the same: whilein motion. If desired, thetanks 14, may be c yered with longitudinallyextendin strips A6,-formin'g a grated flooring above t. 6 aritions 1501the tanks, and upon Whi'c to wadk while loading and unloading the car.

like, lprovided with wires 23, terminating in 'oxy the air g be dissolves a means for supplying the chamber wportion of the car orreceptaclewith sulfur fumes, and thus absorbing or, taking up the '85oxygen in the air within the chambers or I ers 1 supply of sulfur 18, orthe like, said receptacles or containers being suitably spacedthroughout the interior of the car body or chamber portion and suitablysupported,- as for'example, by means of a card member 19, sup orted 'oncross members 20. As a means or igniting the sulfur at a suitable timeafter the sealing of the car chambers or compartments, the containersmay be p vided with a covering of gelatin or other soluble materialadapted to ket or receptacle 21, and a small quantity of sodium peroxid22,'1mmediately 10! sodium peroxid is moistened by the contact of watertherewith. Or, if desired, the sulfur 18, may be ignited by means of asource of electrical supply, as a battery 23, or the 1 1( le electrodessuita adapted to f or atmosphere is adapted. the liquid in the tanks 14,below, thus removin the oxygen asa"s"lipporter of the life of bacteriaand preventing the putrefaction and fermentative changes' in the meatsor other perishable articles iii the car. v

If desired, a large portion of the air atmos here may be. rstwithdrawnby the mecanism hereinafter'described before the i above mentionedprocess or method iscomformed and maintained in lieu thereof by themechanism hereinafter described. I As a means for withdrawing the airfrom the car chamber or compartments or for forming and sustaining asubstantial vacuum therein, suction pipes 24, may be provided beneaththe car, said suction pipes communicatin with the interior of the car bymeans of ranch intake pipes 24, and communicating. with vacuum orexhaust pumps 25, suitably supported upon the car trucks and adapted tobe operated by means "of eccentric members 26, carried by the car axles27. As a means'for throwing said exhaust pumps into and out ofoperation, the eccentric bearing heads 28, passing around the eccentricmembers 26, are provided with loose link members 29, connected to handlerods 30, extending beneath and to the sides of the car and supported bymeans of sup' porting bars 31, (see Fig. 14). When it is desired tothrow the eccentric bearing head off of the eccentric member 2601? theaxle, one of the handle. rods 30, is moved longitudinally whereby thecross bar portion 30 thereof of one of the-bars is passed through theslot 31, (see Fig. 15) after which the placing the car in transit, theair may be exhausted through the medium of a stationary exhaust pump,the .hose of which may be brought into communication with the suctionpipe 24, through the branch pipe 24 thereof, the latter being normallyclosed by means'of a valve 24, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings.Barometer-s 36 (see F ig. 1) communicating with the car chamber near theends thereof or otherwise suitably placed are adapted to indicate theamount of air in the car chamber in an obvious manner.

As an emergency supply of ice, an emergency ice tank 37, may be used inthe central compartment 38,between the two end compartments, said icetank being made up of a plurality of telescoping members 37, adapted tobe lowered from the top of the car by means of chain members 39, asindicated in Fig. 5, of the drawings, the chain members, in the presentinstance. being con nected to hooks 40, carried by the' doors or covers41, of the ice holes in the roof of the car, and communicating with theemergency ice tank 37. The bottom telescoping member 37 of the emergencyice tank is provided with a central drain pipe 43, as illustrated inFig. 5, of the drawings, said bottom or lower telescoping member 37,being provided with flanges 44, adapted to contact with and elevate theseveral telescoping members 37, as the latter are drawn up 'or elevatedwhen the ice tank 37, is not in use,.

as illustrated in Fig. 6, of the drawings.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, the operation and advantages of my invention will be readilyunderstood.

Having thus described some of the embodiments of my invention, what Iclaim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,

1. An apparatus for preserving perishable articles, comprisinga fluid orair tight receptacle, a supply of sulfur therein, a supply of liquid,means for producing a partial vacuum in said receptacle, and electricalmeans for igniting said sulfur whereby the sulfur fumes given ofi by thelatter absorb the oxygen in said receptacle and are dissolved in saidliquid supply.

2. A car for preserving perishable articles, comprising a fluid tightcar body provided with door openings intermediate the ends, liquidcontainer tanks within said car body, removable doors for hermeticallysealing said door openings, a supply of sulfur therein, means forelectrically igniting said supply of sulfur, and axle actuated pumpexhaust mechanism communicating with the interior of said car body andadapted to form a partial vacuum therein.

3. A car for preserving perishable articles, comprising a fluid tightcar body pro 'vided with hermetically sealed doors, a sup ply of sulfurarranged within said car body, means for igniting said sulfur therein, asupply of liquid within said car body, and axle actuated vacuum pumpmechanism and valved conduits communicating with the in: terior of saidcar body.

4-. A car for preserving perishable ar-v ticles, comprising a. fluidtight carbody, means within the latter for supplying sulfur fumestherein, means for hermetically sealing said car body, and axle actuated

